Ramblings and doodlings of an unsettled mind!

In the run up of the May 2015 GE, British Prime Minister David Cameron promises young Brits an affordable housing ownership program, which Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Razak introduced three years earlier.

BBC.com story:

2 March 2015 Last updated at 15:10

Cameron promises 200,000 starter homes if Tories win election

David Cameron tries his hand at carpentry with apprentice Kial Foye during a visit to the Barratt Homes Evolve development in Grays, Essex

Why can’t the UK build 240,000 houses a year?
Some 200,000 homes will be made available to first-time buyers in England by 2020 if the Tories win the election, David Cameron has promised.

The coalition government has already announced plans for 100,000 cut-price homes for people aged under 40.

The PM said the Tories would double it if elected, to give more people the security of owning their own home.

Labour said the plan was inadequate and housing groups warned affordable rented schemes would lose out as a result.

First-time buyers under the age of 40 in England can now register to buy new homes at a discount of up to 20% off the normal price.

Fees waived
The offer is part of the government’s new “starter homes” scheme to encourage home ownership and construction on previously used “brownfield” land.

The 20% discount will be paid for by waiving the fees homebuilders have to pay to local authorities under so-called Section 106 agreements, amounting to at least £45,000 per dwelling on brownfield sites.

The Conservatives say homes worth £250,000 outside London – or £450,000 in London – would be eligible for the scheme and that first-time buyers would have to repay the 20% price advantage if they sold within five years.

Jump media playerMedia player helpOut of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.
David Cameron: “In every single decade since the 1960’s, we’ve built fewer homes”
In a speech in Colchester, Mr Cameron said there was “a particular kind of security that comes with owning your own home” that “too many people have been denied”, due to what he described as a “quiet crisis” in affordability.

“The young people in their 20s and 30s still living with their parents, desperately saving for their own place. The couple who want a child but can’t afford to upsize – even though they have both got have full-on, full-time jobs. It shouldn’t be this way.

“Our goal is a Britain where everyone who works hard can have a home of their own.”

‘Not shoeboxes’
He said Britain’s biggest builders, including Barratt and Taylor Wimpey, had signed up for the expanded scheme and it would be designed so that new properties could not be “snapped up by buy-to-let landlords”.

Young households graphic
He added: “We’ve shown what we expect starter homes to look like – not rabbit hutches or shoeboxes, but decent, well-built, homes with gardens – places to start and raise a family.”

Mr Cameron said the UK had suffered from a “chronic” shortage of housebuilding for decades but that action taken during the past five years meant the UK was on course to deliver 200,000 new homes a year by 2017.

He said a future Conservative government would also extend the Help to Buy scheme in England – intended to help those trying to get on the housing ladder who could afford mortgage repayments but were struggling to raise a deposit – until 2020 and make it easier for council house tenants to buy their homes.

‘Disappearing dream’
But Labour said the government had presided over the lowest levels of housebuilding since the 1920s and home ownership was at its lowest level for three decades.

Speaking at an event in Brighton, Labour leader Ed Miliband said there would be “no greater priority” for an incoming Labour government than housing.

“David Cameron’s plan on housing has failed Britain and failed families,” he said. “For far too many people, the dream of home ownership is disappearing into the distance.”

The housing project, comprising federal, state and private land, will cater for the housing needs of the people across three major constituencies in the Kuantan area, namely Bandar Kuantan, Indera Mahkota and Paya Besar.

Established by the government to promote home ownership among Malaysians in the middle-income group, the announcement of PR1MA Kuantan is timely as it is strategically located within the three constituencies with a total population of 467,000 people, PR1MA chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Mutalib Alias told a press conference today.

He said the demand for affordable houses has been increasing steadily in Pahang with the bustling petrochemical industry in Gebeng, automotive industry in Pekan and the growing township of Kuantan.
“With the price of a double-storey house in Kuantan already reaching RM500,000 in some areas, PR1MA Kuantan will help fulfil some of the demand for affordable housing for middle-income earners in an area that is essential to the success of the East Coast Economic Region,” he said.

PR1MA Kuantan will be an integrated development, comprising PR1MA homes, public parks, retail outlets, a shopping mall, offices and other public and communal amenities.

The project will be a mix of double-storey and apartment homes, with the starting price expected to be at least 20 per cent lower than the prevailing market price in Kuantan.

Abdul Mutalib said the demand for affordable houses by middle-income earners in the Kuantan area is among the top five demand areas in Malaysia, on par with Kuching and Kota Kinabalu.

He said PR1MA Kuantan will be the first integrated development of its kind that would offer affordable lifestyle homes in a safe and secured environment.

Abdul Mutalib encouraged eligible buyers to quickly register their name for PR1MA Kuantan homes through its website at http://www.pri1ma.my. — Bernama

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Unlike PM Cameron, ‘Affordable housing’ was never an election agenda for PM Najib. Actually, he already had ‘affordable homes’ programs launched, especially for the lower middle class and young families as far back as December 2011.

Star’s story:

Wednesday December 14, 2011

Najib: More firms willing to build affordable homes

BY SARBAN SINGH
NEWSDESK@THESTAR.COM.MY

SEREMBAN: More companies and developers have indicated their interest to take part in the Government’s initiative to build quality affordable homes under the 1Malaysia Housing Programme (PR1MA).

Revealing this, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the response from the private sector had been extremely encouraging and he expressed confidence the Government’s desire to build more such homes in urban areas for the middle income group would be realised.

“More (companies and developers) will be coming onboard,” he told reporters after launching Sime Darby’s PR1MA project in Labu near here yesterday.
Najib said PR1MA Corp was scouring the country looking for areas where more such projects could be carried out.

Launched last year, PR1MA is a scheme to provide affordable quality homes within the Klang Valley for young Malaysians who earn RM3,000 or less.

Depending on the location, the houses would be priced between RM150,000 and RM300,000 while the minimum size would be 243sq m.

Sime Darby, in collaboration with PR1MA Corp, will build some 2,200 dwellings on a 220ha area in Bandar Ainsdale in Labu near here.

It will build 420 units under phase one of the project, with half being landed strata homes and the remaining 210 units comprising low-rise town houses or cluster homes.

The units would also have innovative sustainable features such as a common solar system and rainwater harvesting systems.

In total, it planned to build 21,120 affordable quality homes, roughly half of which would be landed properties, in various such schemes here and in Selangor.

Najib expressed hope that construction would be completed within 16 months.

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PM Najib also considered cheaper housing for civil servants.

Rakyat Post story:

PUBLISHED: Oct 10, 2014 08:24pmUPDATED: Oct 10, 2014 08:24pm

More affordable housing in new budget

In Buget 2015, more affordable homes will be built, while the government has also made it easier for individuals to own homes.
KUALA LUMPUR Oct 10, 2014:
To address the issue of home ownership at affordable prices, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced several projects and programmes under Budget 2015.
In his speech, Najib announced the building of 80,000 affordable housing units under the 1Malaysia People’s Housing Programme (PR1MA) with an allocation of RM1.3 billion.
“To enable more people to own houses, the ceiling of household income is raised from RM8,000 to RM10,000.
“In addition, a Rent-To-Own Scheme will be introduced specifically for individuals who are unable to obtain bank financing.”
He also announced that the National Housing Department (JPN) is to build 26,000 units under the People’s Housing Programme (PPR) with an allocation of RM644 million; and Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB) to build 12,000 units of Rumah Mesra Rakyat (RMR) and 5,000 units of Rumah Idaman Rakyat.

“SPNB will also build 20,000 units of Rumah Aspirasi Rakyat on privately-owned land,” he added.
To enable more people to own their first home and reduce the cost of buying a house, Najib said the government has agreed to extend the 50% stamp duty exemption on instruments of transfer and loan agreements and increase the purchase limit from RM400,000 to RM500,000.
“This exemption will be given until Dec 31, 2016.
“He also announced that the government had agreed to improve Skim Rumah Pertamaku under the purview of Cagamas by raising the ceiling price to RM500,000 in line with the stamp duty exemption.
“In addition, the age of borrowers to qualify for the scheme will be increased from 35 to 40 years.”
Najib also stressed that to make the living conditions more comfortable for the rakyat who live in public low-cost housing, RM40 million will be allocated under the Public Housing Maintenance Programme, while RM100 million will also be allocated under the 1Malaysia Maintenance Fund for maintenance of private low-cost housing.
For civil servants, Najib stressed that the government was committed to increasing the construction of houses under 1Malaysia Civil Servants’ Housing or PPA1M.
“Currently, 10,639 PPA1M houses have been approved for construction.
“In 2015, to enable more civil servants to buy PPA1M houses, the government agrees to build an additional 5,380 units, including 1,600 units in Putrajaya, Bukit Jalil (1,530 units), Papar, Sabah (1,290 units) and Bukit Pinang, Kedah (960 units),” he said.
In addition, Najib said that the government would improve PPA1M by reducing the minimum price of houses currently at RM150,000 to RM90,000 per unit with a minimum floor area of 850 square feet; raising the qualifying requirement of household income from RM8,000 to RM10,000 per month; and by providing a facilitation fund of up to 25% from the project cost for developers participating in the scheme.
“Comfortable homes will contribute to increased productivity. For this, the government allocates RM500 million for repair and maintenance that will be implemented in stages for military, police, teachers’ and medical staff’s quarters nationwide,” he said.
In addition, Najib announced that RM105 million is allocated to Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government for maintenance of government quarters under the MyBeautiful Malaysia Programme covering 126 locations.

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It is refreshing that the Melayus are far ahead in thoughts for the rakyat, even ahead of the Orang Putehs considering Britain is known for its social consciousness for her people.

There must be rumah kos rendah even if household income reaches RM8,000. A lot of votes there.

Developers usually are not interested in building low cost units. Because small profits. Like in Penang, they build only the medium cost units and above.

And Lim Guan Eng sold state land like the 100+ acres at Bayan Mutiara and Taman Manggis. Instead of asking the Penang Development Corporation build the low cost units on at least 30% of the land. Like BN did.

Lim of course does not care for the low income people. Those in Penang still voted the DAP because of so much hate messages DAP put across.

Land is the biggest cost. If State Governments can allocate State land, sure low cost houses can be built in big numbers.

Next is the design and specification of the houses. Plain, straight lines kind of rooms, toilets and other facilities do no cost as much to construct as more complicated ones. Less labour cost. Not so much wood cutting here and sambong there.

Building materials – sand bricks of course cost much less than clay bricks. By more than half. Hell, once covered by cement plaster, who the hell knows if the house is built using clay bricks or not. And so many just want houses, not magnificent palaces.

So, PM Najib, just instruct the relevant authorities on those and we’ll get so many low cost housing units before PRU14, Sir.

Sure the Melayus can be “far ahead in thoughts for the rakyat, even ahead of the Orang Putehs”. Given educational opportunities under the NEP, many are now having Master’s degrees and PhDs, doctors, engineers and all kinds of professional qualifications. No Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking yet, but I think we do have quantum theory and nuclear physicists already, though not yet expounding theories on the international scene.

But I’m concerned about the price levels of the “affordable homes” stated by the Melayus in the news reports above. “priced between RM150,000 and RM300,000”? These certainly are not low cost and not catering for the low income rakyat.

There must be the really low cost houses built for the very many who now live in the fringes of towns and cities. Those who toil as petty traders, operating food stalls and selling all kinds of wares at mobile markets, pasar tani, pasar malam and the like, moving in cars and rickety vans to earn their living. Those who work as technicians, mechanics and foremen, electricians and plumbers. Those who have migrated from the kampongs to the urban areas. Those who have been giving votes to UMNO/BN for donkeys’ years and many have been swayed by the Opposition. Yes, cakap tak serupa bikin the Opposition may be, but they have captured the state of Selangor.

Najib should ensure the construction of really low cost houses of simple design and using low cost building materials like cement bricks. In Perak such 3 room single storey houses are being built and sold at RM45,000, excluding land cost. The UMNO/BN Government may have to purchase land in Pakatan-controlled Selangotr, build such houses or apartments and subsidize them for selling at no more than RM80,000. Even at that price level, I wonder if it can really be called low cost housing units.

With Najib wanting a high-income nation (which Tun Dr Mahathir said was not the intention of Wawasan 2020, which I agree), is he erasing the concept of “low income” from the Malaysian thinking? Hence no more talk of “low cost houses”?

And the Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar yesterday saying “In this new policy, 15% of houses built must be worth RM80,000 and below, 15% must cost RM250,000 and below, another 20% must be priced below RM350,000, and 50% is up to the developer ..” Is 15% sufficient?

And requiring developers to allocate 50% for Bumiputeras (compared to 30% previously) would help much if the Bumis can’t afford to buy those units?

Well, those are the ones built by developers. But are State governments not building houses through the various State Economic Development Corporations like before? If so, why? Surely State governments have land which can be used for building low cost houses. Only the DAP government sells 100s of acres state land in Penang to developers who build only the higher cost units to drive the Malays and Indians out of Penang island to buy houses on the mainland.